The Bombay High Court has ruled that a trader who made a ₹1.75 crore profit due to a Kotak Securities tech glitch should be allowed to keep the money.
In 2022, trader Gajanan Rajguru received ₹40 crore margin money from his broker Kotak Securities due to a technical glitch. Within 20 minutes, he made a trade and earned a profit of ₹1.75 crore, according to an Economic Times report.
Kotak Securities later reversed the ₹40 crore transaction. However, the stock broking company also demanded the ₹1.75 crore profit that Rajguru had made.
Bombay High Court order
In December 2025, the Bombay High Court ruled that Rajguru can keep the ₹1.75 crore as it is not unjust enrichment.
The court ruled that profits made by a trader using accidentally-provided trade margin money due to a tech glitch in the broker’s system cannot be treated as "unjust enrichment".
Kotak Securities contended that it had mistakenly credited margin worth around ₹40 crore and therefore claimed that any profits generated using this amount should rightfully belong to the firm. However, the Bombay High Court rejected this argument, observing that the margin credit did not automatically translate into profits for the trader.
{{/usCountry}}Kotak Securities contended that it had mistakenly credited margin worth around ₹40 crore and therefore claimed that any profits generated using this amount should rightfully belong to the firm. However, the Bombay High Court rejected this argument, observing that the margin credit did not automatically translate into profits for the trader.
{{/usCountry}}The court noted that the trader had first incurred a loss of ₹54 lakh before subsequently earning a profit of ₹2.38 crore, resulting in a net gain of ₹1.75 crore. It further pointed out that Kotak Securities had not suffered any loss due to the erroneous margin credit.
Instead, the court said, the firm was attempting to unjustly appropriate the trader’s profits — earned through his own skill and risk-taking — on the specious ground that the trades were executed using Kotak Securities’ margin.
Kotak had appealed the decision and the next hearing will take place on February 4, 2026, Moneycontrol reported. The trader was represented by advocates Nitesh V Bhutekar with Aaditya Mahamiya.